BYU vs North Carolina

We had some shocking revelations in this game. This group of North Carolina players can actually play defense and not have a meltdown when punched in the mouth? That's what the end of the second half showed, while the end of the first half showed the same team that had an epic meltdown/lock-up against Georgetown in the Elite 8.

Granted they were playing without Tywon Lawson who got injured two minutes into the game, so Ole Roy did not have time to create a game plan without him. But that meltdown showed that perhaps there's something missing from this team, and I'm not talking about talent or Xs and Os, but the intangibles. So what exactly is missing? (that's why they pay the experts to figure it out!)



While Ellington has the talent and can hit big shots at times, it doesn't seem like he has as much impact on the game as he should have based on his talent/position. He is not the type of player that would scare an opponent like Rashad McCants, but then again it took McCants three years to figure it all out.

BYU once again looked impressive. Tavernari never met a shot he didn't like hoisting up in 50 milliseconds or less, and once again he made a lot of those, which is scary for the defense because if this guy can make 3-6 crazy three-pointers per game, that's the difference between winning and losing a game. Plaisted had a big game and got Vitale to sing his praises. Once again Vitale was expecting to call a game with a big team from the state of Kentucky, but found himself getting his hands "dirty" with non-BCS teams. Oh it's unbelievable I am the one and only Dick Vitale and I have to call games of Gardner Webb and BYU! Oh it's unbelievable get me the ESPN VP! I want to sing the praises of Coach K, Rick Pitino, Roy Williams, Tom Izzo, not David Rose and Gardner Webb baby!

Back to Trent Plaisted, he had a big game numbers wise, even though he missed a number of baskets he should have made, but you may want to credit the defense for that, with the Carolina players flying at him. He perhaps exposed a hole in this year's UNC team, they cannot guard big talented and athletic centers. The good news for UNC is that there are not that many like that around. The bad news is that they are facing Ohio State and Kosta Koufos next week, so they'll be tested again. Although Koufos is nowhere near as athletic, mobile, agile and experienced as Plaisted, but he does have seasoned offensive moves perhaps for a player of his age.

What's even more promising for BYU fans is that they almost beat Carolina and beat Louisville with Cummard in foul trouble in both games. Plaisted had an okay game and a great game, while Tavernari's shooting was off the hook on both nights. If you average out the performance of those three players, and assume that Tavernari can continue to deliver crazy 3s on a consistent basis, we could be looking at perhaps an Elite 8 if the stars align, or a Sweet 16 team.

Which brings up another question, why was BYU "hiding" David Rose in the "boring" Steve Cleveland staff and why didn't they give him the reigns a lot earlier? This guy looks like he can coach. Okay, I'm starting to sound like Vitale now, so I better stop singing the praises of Rose baby!

Another surprise to those who don't think Ole Roy is a solid coach was the smart move of not burning out Psycho T on Plaidsted. Not that Psycho-T would have been the ideal player to guard him, but by rotating Thompson and the athletic Stepheson on him, he allowed Psycho-T not to get into foul trouble and have Plaisted-stress. However, this backfired in other areas, because Psycho-T was on the perimeter chasing Tavernari, instead of grabbing defensive rebounds and filling up the paint.



One thing that the Carolina coaching staff seems to not pay attention to is having Quinton Thomas and Marcus Ginyard on the floor at the same time. Neither one of those guys are offensive threads, so they allow the defense to focus on the remaining three players. But if you don't need to score points, or you want to have an impact on defense, then perhaps it makes sense to have them in the game together. This is perhaps why the Carolina fans petition to get Q-Thomas more "PT" is mostly going to fall on deaf ears.

More on UNC at the TarHeel Mania blog, UNC Basketball Update, Carolina BBall. The BYU perspective at Cougar Fan. And an independent point of view at College Sports Pro. CSTV Headlines.